it's friday...

...since we did a lot of playing during the week, we don't have any fun plans for the weekend. I'm hoping to do a little bit of organizing and work on a few projects, but I don't have any pressing deadlines, so that's nice. Maybe if I'm really lucky Brad will get bitten by the painting bug and we can paint another wall or two in the basement!!

I took a little field trip to Provo today with my mom and the kids. I had a few projects picked up by Paper Trends magazine (my first published projects with them!) and since they are oversized and awkward, and since they are conveniently located right at the mouth of Provo Canyon, I just delivered them today, rather than mailing them. The offices seemed a bit empty - maybe lots of people were taking a long weekend...but I was able to meet a really nice gal named Paige and her cute little bird! It's always fun to get a little peek behind the scenes at places like this!

We also did a quick Target run (where we bought most of Meagan's school clothes and a few things for Josh) and a Costco run (where we picked up some photos, milk, and cleaning products). Unfortunately, my membership was up, so I had to pay for that too...so what should have been a "cheap" Costco trip turned into a "cheap + $100" trip. Oh well, it coulda been worse!

I also have a couple of scrapbook spreads I can share today -- I created them using a fun kit from Creating Keepsakes. They used one in their CHA booth, and the other I did just for me -- love their little 8x8 album kits!

Here's to a fun and relaxing weekend! :o)

how did it get to be thursday already...

It's been a busy week! We celebrated the 24th of July (Pioneer Day here in Utah) at the lake. Actually, we celebrated at two different lakes. We headed to Jordanelle early in the morning on Tuesday. We played and played and had a great time (and we all got nice and sunburned...even though it was totally cloudy (notice the photo).
Then, the storm came in. I love a summer rain storm - it smelled soooooo good. We loaded up the wave runners and headed home. Brad and Rustin (my brother) did a little work on one of the wave runners, then the kids all took a little afternoon nap. I spent the afternoon working on a fun project for Making Memories. After the storm passed, we headed to Deer Creek for the evening. The train (HVRR) came down the tracks while we were out, so we zoomed across the lake with all four of our kiddos so we could get a better view and the kids could wave. We stayed on the lake until it was too dark to see. We missed the fireworks, but I still have to stay it was a great way to spend the holiday. Both of my brothers and their families were able to join us for at least some of the time (Rustin and Karli and their two kids were with us all day on Tueday...Tony and Daxen were able to join us Tuesday night). The kids (of all ages) all had a great time - we can't wait to go again!!

Okay, so I was doing a little blog reading this morning, and found this kind of fun thing on Britney's blog...so I thought I'd give it a try. She is right - it's kind of cool, kind of dumb, but still fun. Is it sad that this is the only photo I could find of myself within the last year? Meagan took it last month. :o) Anyway, here are my celebrity look alikes, lol:

And, just for fun, and since it's been a long time since I have shared any projects...

here's a little card I made last week:

a few quick things...

I just had a few fun things I wanted to share this morning before I head out to run some errands.

1. Guess what was delivered to my doorstep yesterday? This:

I was thrilled to have a few cards published in this special issue from Paper Crafts Magazine...and beyond thrilled when I was told that they were using not one, but TWO of my cards on the cover!! (the mother's day hat card, and the baby announcement card are mine.) I don't think the idea book is actually available yet (the website says it's still a preorder item), but I'm sure it will be right away!

2. Today is the first day of CHA...so I can finally share the two organizational products Making Memories is introducing that I am SO excited about. AND
I cannot wait for these to be available!! I know I need at least one of the carousels...and several of the desktop organizers - they will fit perfectly on top of my scrapboxes and I can keep the NEWEST product right at my fingertips -- oooh, it's like Christmas! :o) (I hear they will be ready to ship in September.)

3. Mr. Seth is getting to be an old pro at the potty thing -- we've even ventured outside the house in Thomas the Tank Engine Undies...and NO accidents! hooray!!

this week's ten...

1. Earlier this week, I got a little sneak peek of some organizational items Making Memories will be introducing later this week at CHA. I am SO excited about these items and I cannot wait until September when I can mine! I'll share pictures on Friday...when the show starts.

2. We took the boat out on Deer Creek last Saturday. [this is a picture off their website...I didn't take it...but isn't this a great shot with Mt. Timanogos in the background?]

Brad took the older kids and one of his friends early Saturday morning, then the whole family went out Saturday evening. We took a picnic, docked on the shore and walked around, fished, pulled the big kids on the tube. Seth and Zach both LOVED the boat -- Zach was almost too excited, and didn't want to sit down at all...he wanted to lean over the edge and watch the water. Yeah, he's just a little too brave for his own good.

3. My local scrapbook store had a huge sale last week. They moved into a new place that is a bit smaller, so they had to get rid of a lot of older inventory. They had a ton of stuff marked down 75%...then on Friday and Saturday, they had a "everything you can stuff into the bag for $25" sale. We arrived about 30 minutes after they opened, and while there was still some good stuff left, there were a lot of bigger ticket items that were gonzo. of course. Waiting in line for two hours to pay wasn't so much fun...but hey, a deal's a deal!

4. Zach is obsessed with taking walks around the neighborhood in his stroller. Every time we get home and get out of the van, he immediately high-tails it for his stroller and whines until we take him for a walk. Of course, when we get home, he whines to go again...

5. Zach has recently broadened his vocabulary. In addition to dad, mama, and baba...he can now tell you that a train says "choo choo." We're very proud. :o)

[Here he is on his cousin's little train - he makes a cute engineer, no?]

6. The kids are having lots of fun reading this summer. The library has a great summer reading program and we've already earned some fun prizes...including several ice cream cones from the Dairy Keen.

7. I received an e-mail today with a sneak peek into a new CK publication. I was excited to see my album featured in their online bonus features! Here's a link to the sneak-peek...and the pictures they posted of my album! When the book is released, I'll share more pics of my mini album - one of my favorites! The other sneak-peeks are really fun - I am very anxious to see this idea book!

8. Seth is my little potty training champ (see the other post from tonight).

9. Here's a quick picture of Seth with the orange bear he picked at the hospital last week -- and the cute little alien Meagan made and gave to him when he got home. 10. I think I'll end with nine...it's late...the dishwasher just beeped...

meet eli...

Eli is the result of a bribe. (I'm not ashamed to admit it.)

However, she is also the result of Seth's good work!

We've attempted (probably half-heartedly) potty training a couple of different times over the last several months, but none of the attempts met with lasting results (obviously). Early last week, we started another round, and Seth actually seemed okay to go along with things. He earned a couple of stickers for using his potty chart...but we were coming and going and busy and it's just too hard when there's no consistency. Seth had surgery again last week, so I knew that even though he had done fairly well early in the week, there was no way he would be using the potty chair Thursday or Friday, so we stopped. I knew that Monday would be the beginning...AGAIN...of the potty training era.

Our schedule for this week was pretty free, so it was be the perfect time to try again. Seth did AMAZINGLY well on Monday. He earned FIVE stickers on Monday - yes, you know what that means - FIVE times this little guy used his potty. And FIVE stickers just happens to be the going rate for little plastic elephants. So, after Meagan's piano lessons today, we headed to Target to buy the little elephant he's been wanting for a couple of weeks. He was thrilled with it -- and he's sleeping with it right now. :o)

He's used the potty about 20 times today -- he's so funny, he'll run in to the bathroom, dribble a little bit in the potty chair, wash up and ask for another sticker. I'm hoping once the newness wears off, he'll be able to wait more than 10 minutes between bathroom visits, but for now, I'm ecstatic about his fondness for the potty.


His next prize is a balloon. Yes, he wants a balloon -- and he also wants one for each of his siblings. Sweet kid, huh? We haven't specified a number of stickers required for the balloon...but at this rate, he'll have his entire chart filled up with 100 stickers before the end of the week. (And when I made the chart, I figured that he'd be completely potty trained by the time he had 100 stickers...I may have to rethink that one.) Anyway, that's how Eli came to live with us - and that's probably more than anyone ever wanted to know about our potty training experiences.


So, here's to hoping for a dry night and good times tomorrow...and maybe even a balloon or two!

tuesday, july 10th -- a real tuesday 10...

1. We're all healthy, finally. (knock on wood)
2. My little (25 year old) brother isn't so lucky -- he has CHICKEN POX! Can you believe that? He's pretty miserable...we're hoping he's able to get some rest tonight and some relief from the itching and pain.
3. We had a "faux 4th" on Saturday. Since we were sick and missed the real holiday, we went over to my parent's house on Saturday and finished off their fireworks. Seth loved them this year (last year he cried through them)...but Zach took over for Seth and didn't want to be anywhere near them. I remembered my camera, but didn't remember my tripod. The pictures aren't great - but I am still glad to have them.

4. Today was a good mail day -- two magazines came and the two idea books I bought from Laura arrived. I'm saving them for tomorrow...too much to do today AND it gives me something fun to look forward to! (By the way, it looks like she has a few idea books/magazines still available if you're interested...she'll give you a good deal! I think I might follow her lead and list a few of my loved idea books for sale on my blog...that, or e-bay, but the blog route seems a little bit easier. We'll see...)
5. Josh vacuumed out the van today -- and it wasn't even one of his two chores for the day. (The two chores he picked today were (1) sweep the kitchen and (2) mop the kitchen -- he did a great job with these as well!)
6. Meagan is ready for a new set of piano lesson books so we visited the local music store and purchased four new books and a metrinome -- quite a chunk of change, but it's so wonderful to hear how much she's learning. I wish I wouldn't have quit piano lessons before I learned enough to play well. Josh will be starting piano lessons in a couple of months too -- gotta love a guy who plays the piano!! :o)
7. I had some fun tonight creating some cards to submit to PaperCrafts. It seems that often I'm creating projects "on assignment" where I'm limited to certain products, colors, themes, etc. None of that tonight -- and I have to say that it was so relaxing and enjoyable. I didn't want to stop...
8. I also finished up a MM assignment -- again, it felt so good to CREATE!
9. Seth is finally showing a bit of interest in potty training. Okay, he's not. But Brad and I are determined that he is going to start showing some interest. now. Today he used the potty once. Unfortunately, he also used the back deck once and the kitchen floor once. Luckily, each of the aforementioned "uses" only consisted of #1! ;) He'll get it...hopefully soon. Plus, when he gets it all figured out, he gets to buy several Bob the Builder items he picked out on Amazon. No, I'm not above bribery!
10. It's after 2:00 am...and I am thinking I'd rather pull out some more scrapbook stuff and be creative than go to bed. Is that wrong???

go away flu...

...that's what we're chanting here in our house. It seems that each person who gets sick is worse and sick for longer than the person before. This is so not fun. Brad woke up in the early hours on Thursday morning ill - I guess it was his turn, everyone else has already had it. Meagan and Josh were both feeling much better by Thursday evening, and even ate some chicken noodle soup. I've washed all the bedding, disinfected the bathrooms (again) and doorknobs, and cleaned the carpets. I need to go out and buy new toothbrushes tomorrow (technically, I suppose I mean later today - since it's almost 2:00 am on Friday) - and hopefully this bug will be gone once and for all. We've all been sick enough to last us for a long, long time.

In other news, I saw a little sneak peek of a fun book I was able to contribute to. There were even a couple of little sneak-peeks of two of my projects. It looks like the book is still on pre-order...but the CK website says it's available July 2007. I am excited to see it in real life! I had so much fun working on the projects I submitted - I'll share more when the book is available.

Okay, Brad just left to go to work -- some crazy State job almost all the way to Evanston -- and I need to get a few projects finished up. Hopefully his stomach will stay calm and "collected" (ha!) since he absolutely had no choice about whether or not to go to work this morning. And I'm hoping after taking this short little blogging break, I'll be able to conjure up some creativity so I can finish some assignments and catch a little bit of sleep before the sun rises...or the kids...whichever happens first!

ten lessons...

Ten lessons I’ve learned so far this week:
1. If one child gets the flu on Saturday night, it’s likely that more family members will get the flu sooner, rather than later.
2. Cleaning the toilet once a week is not enough. Since you never know when you might get the flu, and when you might be spending an exorbitant amount of time with your face in the toilet – you ultimately do not want it to occur on the day before the toilets were scheduled to be cleaned. From now on I will be scrubbing the toilets approximately 3-4 times per week (or perhaps EVERY day would be better).
3. The flu is wretched. period.
4. It’s amazing what a 10 year old and a 7 year old can do when their mom is flat on her back (or, as mentioned above, burying her face in the toilet). They were real troopers and helped a ton with the little guys – Meagan even came into my room several times to check on me and ask if I needed anything.
5. It’s funny how the minds of a 10 year old and a 7 year old can work. They might come up with some crazy ideas – laundry basket trains with babies as passengers, eating tons of popsicles, oh, and how about this, “Mom, can taking care of the babies count as our chores for today and tomorrow? It’s really hard, you know?”
6. I’m lucky to have a husband willing to make an early morning (pre-dawn even) trip to the grocery store for sprite and saltines before he heads out to work.
7. I’m also lucky to have a mom who is willing to drive Meagan to her piano lessons AND bring popsicles for the kids.
8. Yep, you guessed it, lucky again – this time for a sister who brought dinner for the family.
9. Missing the fireworks and 4th of July celebrations is a real bummer – we’ll have to do our celebrating next weekend.
10. As miserable as I was for 24 entire hours, I would rather do it four extra times myself than have to watch my sweet babies suffer with it. If anyone can figure out how to do that, please let me know. thanks.

this week...

...has been a really productive week so far! The kids and I have tackled some big projects around the house (washing the walls, organizing the basement, cleaning out the garage, etc.). It feels SO good to have so many things done - and we still have a list of projects to complete over the next weeks (one project at a time). I love when the kids are cooperative and I am actually in as good of a mood when we're done as when we started - and that's how this week has been. Hopefully the next few weeks will prove to be as productive (and happy) as this one.

Also, this week is the last week of baseball for Meagan & Josh. Josh's last game was last night and Meagan's is tonight. Both kids have really enjoyed the season and can't wait until next summer to play again. They both had great coaches and they've learned a lot and their skills have really improved! Meagan even hit a homerun last week!!

One more thing - I received a package today with a copy of the July 2007 Creating Keepsakes (the 100th issue!!), and my two layouts that were in this issue. This layout was a challenge layout -- using only four products that were sent to me. And this layout was featured in a "style" column. Of course, I was pleased when I was asked to create a layout, then told that my page was being included to represent "CUTE!" I love CUTE - and take it as a great compliment!!

The kids and I spent yesterday in the backyard, playing on the slip & slide and splashing in the water...and they're ready for more now, so here we go - back out into the 95 degree heat -- gotta love summer!!

just in case...

Just in case you're dying to know more about me...here's a little Q & A I did for the Making Memories blog: click here . :o) (by the way, that purple layout they posted is one of the first layouts I created for Making Memories years ago -- five or six years ago, in fact!)

She turned 10...

I know everybody always says it, but seriously, how did it happen? Wasn’t she JUST barely the little girl with curly hair wearing her yellow swimsuit over her diaper? Didn’t she just fall off the table at grandma’s and break her arm, and feel more upset about having to miss a day of kindergarten than actually having a broken arm? Wasn’t she just learning how to read? I swear, it was just yesterday. Only it wasn’t. Because last Sunday, my little girl had a milestone birthday – double digits – TEN years old! She had a “friend party” on Saturday and a “family” party on Sunday (this is the second time she’s shared her birthday with her Daddy on Father’s Day). It’s becoming very obvious that she’s growing up too…she wanted pie (chocolate chip cookie pie, to be exact) for her birthday – no cute cake with little toy decorations. And here are a few more fun facts about Meagan at 10:

* She loves reading (always has) and is just about finished with the series of Unfortunate Events. And she swears the books are WAY better than the movie. I’ll take her word for it. I hated the movie, and even though she keeps asking me to read the books, I just don’t think I’m going to do it.
* We found out last month that she’s been accepted into the Gifted & Talented program for next year. She scored in the 99th percentile on the testing. She’s one smart cookie!
* She’s playing softball this summer – last night she even hit a homerun!!!
* Her baby brother adores her and oftentimes wants HER to hold him instead of ME!!
* She is a great sister to her brothers – she plays with them, takes care of them, and even reads to them.
* She loves to check her favorite websites on the internet – American Girl, E-bay (looking at American Girl stuff, and books), and checking her e-mail (Grandma sends her fun notes sometimes).
* Okay, here’s a quirky one – she actually LIKES the smell of skunks. I know – she’s a nut.
* Her favorite foods include peanut butter sandwiches, tuna fish sandwiches, peach salad, cheesecake, oh, and chocolate chip cookie pie!!
* Something she’s said a lot lately: “Mom, can I borrow your camera?” These are just a few of the awesome pictures she's taken in the last couple of days:
* Her new obsession (while school is out for the summer) is “The Price is Right.”

Tomorrow (technically, I guess that would be later TODAY since it's now in the early am of Saturday) Meagan and I get to spend the whole day together – along with Grandma, Aunt K and cousin C – a girl’s day out. We’re excited for a yummy lunch, some fun shopping, and a play at the Hale Center Theatre.

fun times...

What do you get when you cross a 7-year-old boy, a shovel, a huge sandy/dirt area in the backyard, and 15 minutes of unsupervised time, oh and access to the garden hose? Probably something like this:

Yeah, I really should have suspected something when I saw him come in and change into his swimsuit. Oh well...he had a good time -- and the mud will come out of his suit (and my carpet) eventually...

my favorite thing...

Do you remember a few posts ago when I mentioned that Brad had changed positions within the company he works for? Yeah, I thought so. Anyway, I also mentioned that there was ONE thing I was completely excited about in regards to his new job. Now, first let me mention that the schedule is better, the pay is better, he gets to drive a company truck, he isn't completely exhausted when he gets home from work (well, that's not true, his job is still exhausting - it's now more mentally and emotionally exhausting than physically exhausting though), and there are lots of other "good things" I could mention. However, my very most favorite thing about his new job is this: (by the way, this picture was a total accident - When we were on vacation last week I had my camera over my shoulder and was reaching to make sure it was turned off and took this picture. Brad wasn't even in front of me, and I didn't realize I had taken a picture of him at all. I liked what I saw when I realized I had taken the picture though, so it seemed the perfect photo to add to a post like this)

Do you see it? He is finally, after almost 14 years of marriage, able to wear his wedding ring every single day!!! It didn't really bother me that he didn't wear his ring before. I've heard all of the horror stories about men losing or nearly losing fingers because their rings got caught on machinery or equipment. In fact, my dad has never been able to wear his wedding ring for the same reason. I've never actually seen my dad wear his wedding ring, except in his wedding photos. Anyway...like I said, I didn't really ever think about Brad not wearing his ring until he was actually able to wear it again. And it made me so emotional. I know, it's just a ring...a little piece of jewelry. Yet it symbolizes so much. I love this guy -- SO much. I'm so grateful that he's my husband. He's such an incredible person. Not to mention an amazing daddy. I guess I just like seeing that little symbol on his hand every time I see him now -- he's mine, and now EVERYBODY who sees him knows it! lol Lucky me!

last day of school...

Okay, so school has been out for a few weeks now, but I thought I’d share a photo of the kids on the last day of school this year. They each took a little gift to their teachers and a little chocolate gift to the bus driver. I admit, I am not one to use other people’s ideas for paper crafting, but when the clock turned to 3:00 am the morning of the last day of school and I was just starting to put together these little gifts, I knew I wasn’t going to create anything beautiful if it came from my own head. So, these card sets were completely inspired by Becky Higgins. If you haven’t checked out her blog, you really should – she shares lots of fun ideas. I also included my favorite hand soap – the only kind I can actually use on my sensitive skin that smells pretty. Add a big chocolate bar, and our gifts were complete!

I hope the teachers enjoyed their little gifts!

And now, bring on Summer! :o)

hello....

Just in case anyone is still out there...I thought I'd take two seconds to pop in and post on my much neglected blog. We just returned from a week long (and VERY much needed vacation), but I'll share more about that later.

School's out. Baseball has started (which means games/practices every single day). Lots of stuff happening. Good stuff. I'll post more later. BUT, for this morning, I wanted to share this link to the Making Memories blog today -- a little peek into my "process." ;)

Lots to do today....didn't sleep last night, thinking about all I had to do today - is that pathetic? I did, however, watch the sun rise, and that was pleasant. Let's hope the rest of the day is equally pleasant! :o)